NOR WHAT WE WANTED

World Cup dream is over as Irish girls get dumped in Stavanger

COLIN BELL rued a combination of defensive hesitancy and poor finishing as Ireland bowed out of the World Cup qualification hunt last night in Norway.

Needing victory in Stavanger against the group’s top seeds, Ireland were undone by Caroline Graham-hansen’s penalty midway through the first-half.

Fussy referee Esther Staubli, who booked teenage debutant Issy Atkinson for entering the pitch too early as a substitute, penalised Claire O’riordan for her late challenge on Graham-hansen after 24 minutes.

However, the Swiss didn’t point to the spot when Maren Mjelde clearly caught Ireland’s Megan Connolly at the other end.

The Girls in Green almost nicked a late leveller when Katie Mccabe swivelled 10 yards out but saw her shot kept out by goalkeeper Ingrid Hjelmseth.

The defeat was Ireland’s third on the spin, crushing any hopes of them building on the positive start to the campaign that had raised hopes of a first-ever tournament being reached.

Norway will now battle it out with European champions Holland to decide which of them progresses to France next year automatically.

Ireland, meanwhile, are guaranteed third spot even before they host neighbours Northern Ireland in the concluding qualifier on August 31.

“Claire [O’riordan] committed to the tackle early but Graham-hansen was already up in the air before that,” said Ireland manager Bell afterwards.

“Not every referee would give that decision. In the case of our claim, I felt we were never going to get a penalty here.”

As was the case in Friday’s 2-0 defeat in the first match between the nations at Tallaght Stadium, Norway dominated the early exchanges. Wolfsburg star Graham-hansen was first to translate the pressure into a clearcut chance by forcing Marie Hourihan to turn her 17th-minute rising around the post.

The solitary goal arrived just as Ireland appeared to have weathered an early spell of Norwegian pressure.

Graham-hansen was allowed to raid into the right side of the penalty area, inviting O’riordan into a mistimed challenge on the occasion of her first competitive start.

While Ireland keeper Marie Hourihan guessed the right way, Grahamhansen’s 22nd international goal nestled into the bottom corner.